Episode 115 - The humanness of diabetes care with Dr Mike Natter, MD

'You have to care. If you don't care, it becomes a really miserable job. But that strength also means you take it home with you, and it opens you up to being spread very thin.'

Dr Mike Natter is an artist and physician who, through this episode and through his work, centres the humanness of not only the patients in his care, but the peers and the medical doctors working tirelessly alongside him to ensure the people in his care are equipped to live better lives.

Mike is an assistant professor of medicine and clinical endocrinologist, based in New York, and has himself been living with type 1 diabetes since the age of 9. An art enthusiast since childhood, Mike's illustrations are now an integral part of his work as a doctor. In this episode we chat about art's ability to break down barriers, and how this empowers Mike's patients by helping them to understand the physiology of their condition.

Mike talks openly about overcoming imposter syndrome after moving from an arts education into medical school, the gruelling and incredibly emotional experience of being a medical doctor through Covid and the contradictions of a profession that helps people get better while making those who deliver the medicines to feel worse. We discuss the importance of compassion in treatment, what we can expect next from diabetes technology, and how support systems have helped Mike to ultimately become the doctor he is today.

This is an incredible episode, and if you’re anything like me Mike's empathy and insight will stay with you for days after you’ve heard him speak.

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